Opponent: Zimbabwe facing collapse

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Nearly 3,000 white farmers in Zimbabwe were ordered to leave their properties by midnight on Thursday or face imprisonment. CNN International Anchor Jim Clancy spoke to the Renson Gasela, Shadow Minister of Agriculture for Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Q. What is the situation in Zimbabwe at the moment?

A. I do not think one should only look at tonight's deadline. It is a much wider problem that this country is facing. It is more a question of a crisis in government that this country is facing.

Q. Many people have charged that President Robert Mugabe and his political party, ZANU-PF, have used the land reform issue in order to remain in power.

A. That's exactly what has been done. As a result there are many, many people -- black farmers -- who need land I must say, who have been allocated land that has not been properly and legally acquired according to law. It cound have been done without injuring anybody.

However, what is of great interest is that even this week the acting minister of agriculture was pleading with people allocated land to go and take up the land that has been allocated to them, or they will lose it. Which shows there are lots of people who took land and do not want it.

Q. Or are actually unable to work it -- the U.N. estimated some six million Zimbabweans --- nearly half the population -- are in need of food.

A. Exactly. The government doesn't have the money to help the farmers plant and produce the food and I would say this is the biggest crisis we are facing at the moment. Commercial farmers can go on and do something else -- a lot of them are going to Mozambique -- but the point is that Zimbabwe is facing starvation, and if nothing is done quickly, then next year we are facing a much bigger crisis. Next year even with a good rain, because there's no money to support those farmers.

Q. Is there a political way out of this?

A. If no politicial solution is found, Zimbabwe is actually going to collapse. I believe the international community still has a big role to play helping people bury their differences and come up with a political solution. And I believe a political solution can be found.